Seven players and a team name
The Black Knights began around 1975 not as a drop-in room, but as a seven-player entry in the DC Chess League. Clarence Beverly mentored the group into the league's A section, and Ken Brown proposed the Black Knights name that the organization still uses.
The founders were Ralph Mikell, Charlie Greene, Philip Lacy, Ken Brown, George Powell, Bennie Shell, and Ron Barksdale. Greene and Lacy later crossed 2000 in rating, and the team subsequently entered the league's Open section.
The team also occupied a specific place in Washington's African American chess history. A 2002 Washington City Paper profile described the Black Knights as a chess team formed exclusively for African Americans.
League nights as a shared classroom
In 2026, the U.S. Chess Center described the DC Black Knights as active in the DC Chess League.
The club's own participant page invites players to join or substitute on teams playing US Chess-rated games.
Its own account emphasizes what happens after the clock stops. Players, opponents, and teammates review completed games, while Black Knights teams also gather for analysis around their matches, turning league play into collective study.
A club carried across changing rooms
Black Knights history is unusually portable. The club lists former homes ranging from Woodson Junior High School and WPFW radio to recreation centers, churches, dedicated chess venues, and two U.S.
Chess Center locations.
Across those moves, the named league team remained the recurring institutional thread. The DC Chess Association describes Black Knights as one of the city's oldest clubs and traces it to the 1975 league entry.
A tournament beyond the team roster
The Black Knights name also became the center of a numbered championship series. US Chess listed the fourth edition in 2021, the club advertised the sixth in 2023, and US Chess listed the eighth in 2025.
The 2025 event was described as an Open five-round Swiss, a format distinct from the club's team matches. Together, the league teams and championship series preserve a 1970s identity while offering both team and tournament forms of participation.
Sources
- 1.Who We Are, Black Knights Chess Club
- 2.DC Chess Clubs, DC Chess Association
- 3.Join A Black Knights Team, Black Knights Chess Club
- 4.Why We Are, Black Knights Chess Club
- 5.Past Events, Black Knights Chess Club
Show 6 more sources
- 6.The 4th Annual Black Knights Chess Championship, US Chess
- 7.8th Black Knights Chess Championship, US Chess
- 8.Donations, Black Knights Chess Club
- 9.Black Knight Members, Black Knights Chess Club
- 10.In Chess, White Always Goes First, Washington City Paper, archived by The Chess Drum
- 11.Big Chair Recognizes DC Chess Luminaries, U.S. Chess Center
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